Aincrad Chronicles: Kings and Queens
by zerodyne
Summary: It was just supposed to be a game. A new virtual world where you could do anything or be anyone. But now things have changed dramatically. Any moment someone could die, you could lose a close friend or family member who originally had just wanted to have fun. Follow the story of a select few who lived in this death game. ((POSSIBLE SPOILERS)) -Part 1 of an ongoing series-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Kitake Haru

"This world feels so real!" Many exclaimed the same thing as they stood around the courtyard of the Town of Beginnings. One could smell freshly baked pie's from the market square, you could feel the wind lightly blowing through the town. Many where just looking around and getting accustomed to the mechanics of the game. Though it felt like it was your own body, you felt lighter and awkward.

A body formed near the fountain in the square. He measured a little past five feet, had medium length brown hair and pale skin. He had based his character off of his real appearance. Most would advise against that but he believed it was some sort of reverse psychology. The name "Zaymosepher" appeared whenever someone looked at him from close up, When his dark brown eyes opened his breath held.

"T-this is amazing!" He exclaimed with a goofy grin. He had played many games before but never with the "full-dive" system. He took the time to look over his character and take in his surroundings. He saw many others do the same and he couldn't help but smile. Only so many copies of Sword Art Online had been sold and Zaymosepher had been lucky enough to get one of those copies.

"Okay. Let's see" Zaymosepher waved his hand before him and a menu appeared. "It worked!" He exclaimed, probably more excited than he should have been. He took the time to look through the options and menus. There where was a guild menu, friends, equipment, messages, and a few more options to the hovering menu in front of him. "Hm, starter light gear. Might need to change that." He noted to himself after looking over his gear. He looked around him and noticed an NPC wearing full armor that was surrounded by boxes and players. "That must be where I'm to choose a starter weapon?" He wondered aloud before flicking through the skills menu. "There's so many!" He exclaimed excitedly. He had read that Sword Art Online had been rumored to have an infinite number of skills. He could see many who where labeled as "?" and he had some discovered already. He also noticed that he had a few skill points he could distribute to learn some skills.

"Okay, the tough decisions." He felt a little strange that he was talking to himself in the middle of the square so he moved over to the fountain where he leaned against it. Zaymosepher looked over the menu and noticed that he needed to level up the skill in one handed swords first before he could unlock skills for two-handed swords. "Normally the heavy hitter in these kinds of games." He said proudly to himself. He had always been able to work out character builds so he had heavy armor to defend himself but dished out a lot of damage with big weapons. He put in a few points to get a passive skill in Heavy metal equipment then put the rest into one-handed sword in order to get a starting skill. He then turned to the armored NPC to start the beginning gear quest.

"Welcome to the Town of Beginnings! It's best to take some equipment with you if you leave town. Select a weapon or tool and item." A quest icon appeared and Zaymosepher pressed the confirm button before him.

"A long sword and a few potions seem to be best for now." He muttered and selected the items to complete the quest. He noticed that if he had wanted to select a smith's hammer or sewing kit, he would have needed to finish the quest in the market to learn the starting skills for that. "There's a lot of diversity in this game." He would have to look into the crafting skills more later on. If he could become a smith he wouldn't really need to rely on others to repair his gear. That's a drawback he noticed though. All gear and items had a durability. In order to keep any good gear he would need to either pay an NPC or other player to repair what he had. But if he learned it himself he wouldn't need to rely on anyone. "Who knows what kind of prices someone could charge me for a repair."

Zaymosepher walked around the town square a while so he could get used to moving around in a much lighter body. After equipping the sword, he decided to head to the edge of town and try out the fighting mechanics of Sword Art Online. It took him some time to make his way through the market as it was packed with people talking and buying starter items. Over ten thousand people all packed in one town. Though the town was massive in scale, he still felt very closed in as he walked through the streets.

Finally he made to the fields outside the town. He could see various people hunting the wild boar that spawned throughout the field. He wondered if there was a spawn rate in the game. Would the boar ever stop spawning? Was there a possibility that spawn points for monsters would run dry at some point? What about quests? He didn't remember reading about it in the manual but anything was possible in a game like this he thought.

"Let's try this." Zaymosepher reached down and drew his new sword. He held it tightly in his hand and stared down a boar. "Okay." He breathed in sharply and charged. He remembered reading that he would have to feel out the skill then use it? He hadn't been exactly sure what it meant but as he began to swing the way that his new skill had told him to. He could hear a hum and the blade of the sword began to shine a bright blue color. Zaymosepher brought the blade down in an arc and through the boar. It's health bar dropped dramatically as it was knocked off balance. "Now!" He stepped back once then jumped forward, bringing the sword through the boar. An item drop box appeared in front of him telling him how much experience points and cor he had earned for defeating the boar. He smiled and gave the sword a few more practice swings. "That was...exciting." He grinned and sheathed the sword back into the scabbard at his side. "Now the question is do I grind out to get the money I need or find a quest to do." After deciding he would practice fighting more, Zaymosepher heard the town square bell toll loudly.

((Author's note: Check out my profile for details about characters! I'm taking applications for future characters of this story. Message me if interested!))


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

naozumi kawashima

Fingers loose on the hilt of a dagger. She had originally chosen it because it was lighter and faster. Now it was the only thing between her and death. She had hoped to get to the next town, find someone nice to defend her and keep her safe. She wanted to live, not hide away at the inn but live and know that she was going to see tomorrow.

"N-no. Stay back!" Her voice was shaky as she looked around her. "P-please don't!" She swung at the creature a few times, doing minimal damage. It charged her, knowcking her down and brought her to half-health. "I don't want to die!' She got up and ran, dropping her weapon in the process. Her long brown hair flew behind her as she ran through the forest. Trees surrounded her, making her escape much more difficult. She saw the edge of the forest that would bring her into the plains just beyond the town of beginnings. Just as she was about to break out of the forest she was knocked forward by the creature that persued her. The thing lashed out twice more with it's long arms. Both arms ended in large leaves and it's roots acted like feet, propelling it forward to try and munch on players with it's large mouth. When she looked at it she was automatically locked on and she could see it's name and level. "Little Nepent?" She wondered aloud as she stared in horror, the creature stood over a meter tall, it had glowing white skin and it's mouth was large and bright red. It was some kind of plant monster, one that was about to kill her.

Her scream was cut off as a gush a wind burst around her. The sound of something hitting metal was heard before the blast of wind and she opened her eyes to see a figure crouched in front of her, a large shield before him.

"Move!" The young sounding figure shouted before using his shield to propell the creature's arms backwards. He brandished a beginner longsword and swung forward, dealing a decent amount of damage to the Nepent. The women got to her feet and moved back, letting her hero have some space. When she looked at him she could see that he looked like he was in his late-teens, maybe early twenties. His short brown hair accented his sharp features nicely and his heavy armor gave him a heroic look. Though she knew it as beginner gear he still looked much like a hero that she would read about in stories. As she looked at him his name appeared near his head.

"Graywall?" Not very original in the name department she thought but she could hardly be picky. He moved a little sluggishly due to the armor but he was able to kill the monster quick enough with many slashes and two sword-skills. When the creature dissipated he viewed over the experience points and col he had recieved then turned to the young women.

"Are you alright?" He asked, the light from the moon shone through the trees and came to rest on Graywall. He looked heroic, just like in a fairy tail. The women began to cry as she slumped to the ground. Why was this happening? She had just wanted to play a game to ignore her father!

"Why?! Why is this happening?!" She shouted, covering her ears as she sobbed. Graywall approached her, sheathing his sword and placing his shield upon his back as he walked. He bent down and placed an armored hand on her shoulder.

"You should get back to the town while you can. There are bound to be others around here." He grabbed hold of her shoulders and hefted her to her feet. After making sure her health wasn't dangerously low he turned and headed back into the forest. "I need to keep going." He whispered to himself and drew his weapons.

A month had passed since ten-thousand people had been told that they where trapped in a virtual world. They where also told that if their health dropped to zero, they would die. Not just die in the game mind you, but die in real life as well. In just a month, over two-thousand people had died from either their loved ones trying to remove the nervegear or people giving into despair and ending their own lives in the game. It had been a trap all along and all ten-thousand "lucky" buyers had fallen for it.

"Damn Akihiko!" Unlike some who had given in to despair, Graywall had become angry. He normally was not this kind of person but this was how he was venting. Games where his way of venting his frustrations. He was just nineteen! There where even younger people trapped in this game! He had to find a way to beat it, get home and finish his graduation! He was supposed to graduate last week! "Damn him! Damn this game!" He had loved the way that it looked, how realistic it was. But that was it, it was supposed to be realistic as now it was everyone's new reality.

Another one of those plant creatures came out from the darkness and lashed out. A few strikes made it past Graywall's shield and dropped his health a bit. But he swung out, his blade shining brightly and humming loudly. He brought it down and sliced through the Little Nepent.

"I'll get stronger. I'll beat this damned game!" He yelled as he encountered two more. He drank a health potion then charged in. He wittled down the the two Nepent's health until they where about dead. He himself was also dangerously close to the red. He held them off with his shield as he brought up another health potion to his lips. It was when he had finished drinking it that his shield's durability had reached zero. The protective item shimmered then began to break away, piece by piece. "Dammit!" Graywall had been dependant on the item since he had bought it. But he had been more focused on trying to level and reach the next town called Harunka village. Moving as quickly as he could in his armor he used his basic sword-skill and ended the both of them. His body glowed and a box appeared that held his earned experience points, cor and a big congratulations on it. "Level three. Damn it's hard to level in this game." He opened his menu and noticed his single-sword skill was twenty and his shield skill was fifteen. "I have a long way to go." He turned and started to jog towards the exit of the forest area. "Better head back and find another shield." His stomach growled loudly through his armor as he reached the plains just ouside the Town of Beginnings. "Maybe after some food." He laughed.

((Author's note: Credit to the character Graywall goes to necron-lordwesly!))


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kai Jin Sato

"Keep moving! It's just a little farther guys!" A young man clad in the beginner light armor lead the way for a group of three. They had started their trek early in the morning, hoping to get to Harunka village by nightfall. They had passed through the forest area with little problems as they where all around level three. But in the mountain area that they would need to get through had ruins, valleys and much more difficult monsters.

"Krystal! You sure this is the right way?" A women who had just recently switched to a spear weapon was already exhausted. The forest had been much bigger than Krystal had remembered from the beta and the monsters much more numerous. She groaned and moved her bright purple hair out of her eyes. After everyone had used the mirrors that the creator had put into their inventories, they had all taken on the looks of their real bodies. But there where many ways in the world of Aincrad that someone could change their look. From hair dyes that you could buy in town to pre-made haircuts that you could change your hair to. She hadn't liked the color of her real hair and had invested in hair dye after she had calmed down from the initial shock of being trapped in this game.

"I'm sure! Just up this path and we should be there!" Krystal was a young man with long brown hair that fell to his shoulders. He wielded a single long sword that hung at his belt. He preferred just the long sword without the shield as he was able to move much faster than he could with a heavy piece of metal.

"Kiara, are you sure about this guy?" A sword and shield user asked the spear wielding women.

"Yeah, I knew him in real life. He's great at games and is always helping people out." She replied with a smile. She caught up with Krystal and looked around. "Looks like it's a winding path that leads up the mountain."

"Yeah. If we just follow this path and not take any detours, we should be there in no time." Just as he finished his sentence, a few higher level boars spawned in front of them. "After we take care of these guys." Krystal drew his sword and readied himself. Kiara did the same and faced the boars with her new spear. She drew back and used a stabbing skill, taking a boar down to half health with the skill.

"Alright!" She shouted victoriously and continued to stab and slice at the boar in front of her. Krystal jumped forward and slashed a few times at the other boar. He tested it's reaction and how quickly it could move by waiting for it to charge at him. He moved out of the way and used a second level skill with his sword, slashing twice into the boar's side as it ran past him.

"Behind us!" The other two behind Krystal and Kiara readied their weapons. The sword and shield user had bought some heavy armor back at the Town of Beginnings and now stood firm in front of the lightly armored dagger user. "Lyrias, stay behind me!" The two where brothers. Lyrias, the dagger user, was fifteen with short blonde hair and hardly talked at all. Cole was seventeen and had longer blonde hair and constantly voiced his opinion. They where pretty much opposites in every way.

Cole's blade shown bright purple as he brought it up and smacked his shield. The shock wave spread to the two boars that ha appeared behind the group. It did no damage but it caught both of the monster's attention and they readied themselves to charge. The ability was meant to generate hate. Hate was something that stood for the attention of monsters, more "hate" meant that the monsters would concentrate on just you.

"Works just like it's supposed to." Cole smirked and planted his feet so he wouldn't be sent flying. Krystal helped Kiara finish off her boar and turned just to see the other two gang up on Cole. "Dammit!" He rose after being knocked down and brought his blade up, nicking both monsters then readied his shield again. Lyrias stabbed at one a few times then jumped back and readied a skill of his own.

"Not enough time!" Krystal brought up his menu and quickly put a few points into his acrobatics skill and gained a new skill. After dropping the menu he lept into the air, flipped once and landed near the two. He had just enough stamina to use another skill and slashed twice into a boar, finishing off it's remaining health points. Lyrias used his skill and killed the boar that was ramming itself into Cole's shield.

"Nice work everyone!" Kiara smiled as she approached them. "We work really well together."

"I agree." Lyrias said and sheathed his dagger. He searched through his inventory and equipped a cloak that a boar had just dropped. He put the hood over his head and smiled. The cloak fell around his small frame and covered him down to his ankles. It was a dark red color and looked like it had seen some wear.

"That's something he did back in the real world. Put a hood on and just ignored everyone else." Cole said and dropped his brothers hood, clearly annoyed by the action. Lyrias just put it back up again and fell silent like he had been since Krystal met him. He believed this was the first time that he had heard the teen speak.

"Just let him do what he wants."Kiara scolded the heavily armored boy and sighed. "How did you know that you would learn that skill?" She turned to Krystal with a slight tilt to her head.

"I guessed. Not everything is the same as the beta, in fact almost everything is different about it other than the basics." He shrugged and sheathed his sword. "That's a rare drop Lyrias. Congrats." He was surprised, even in the beta he had only seen two other people get that cloak as a drop from a boar in the mountains. "It adds only a few points to your agility but it has a lot of upgrade slots that could make the item be useful all the way up until level twenty or so. That's what it was in the beta anyway."

"You talk pretty casually about being in the beta. I heard back in town that a lot of beta testers took off within the first week of being here. They've taken most of the best quests and monster spawns for themselves already." Cole crossed his arms and looked at Krystal accusingly.

"As you can tell by the gear I have, I've hardly gone anywhere. I don't believe in leaving people behind. This place is no exception. It might not just be a game anymore but that just means that it's even more dangerous to go anywhere alone. I won't leave anyone to die." Krystal placed a hand on Cole's shoulder and smiled.

"That's...comforting actually." Cole replied and smiled back. "Thank you. For not being like those guys anyway."

"Of course he's not like them. Krystal is a goody goody. He could never be like them even if he wanted to." Kiara laughed and turned to start walking down the path again. "We should get going before they re-spawn."

"Hey I am not a-. Okay so maybe I am." Krystal laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. He followed after Krystal with the two brothers in tow.

((Author's note: Credit to the character Krystal goes to Zack1187!))


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kitake Haru

The drink felt warm through the mug that had been placed before him. The young man held onto it tightly and raised the coffee to his lips. After setting it down he placed a hand over his heart, it was beating. It was as if this was his real body. Why had this happened? Why would the creator of such a beautiful world make it into a death trap.

"It's been a month now." Zaymosepher said to himself as he took another sip of the coffee. "A month and over two-thousand names had been crossed off on the memorial stone." The stone in the middle fo the Town of Beginnings held the name of every player that was trapped in the game of Sword Art Online. When someone dies it crosses out their name, leaving it known that this person is no longer within this world. There are still some who don't believe what Kayaba Akihiko said about them all being trapped and that if they die they die for real. Man within the first week took their own lives and others are still refusing to come to terms with their new reality. An entire month had passed in this world. Zaymosepher wonered how long they would be stuck here. How long until someone gets to floor one-hundred and clears the game?

"I can't sulk any longer." Zaymosepher stood after he finished his coffee and stormed out of the inn. He was still at the Town of Beginnings, the sun shining high over the large town. He had tried to venture out of town a few days ago but had given in to fear when he had become the target of too many monsters. "I'm only level two. I need to do something." He cycled through his invetory and re-equiped his starter gear. He had unequiped it to wear more comfortable clothes. He had acquired a long sleeved gray shirt and black slacks for when he had been resting at the inn. "Sulking is more like it." He said out loud to himself and equiped his sword. After he finished equiping his gear, Zaymosepher switched over to his quests tab and began to look through the two he had picked up. One was to clear out twenty boar and another was to gather a certain flower from the forest. "The forest has level three creatures so I should rule that out until I'm at least level four and have more skill points." He began to plan out what he could do and what he needed in order to try and survive better. "I've already killed five out of twenty, might as well finish that quest first." Luckily for him the boar huntng quest was a repeatable quest and he could do it a few times to build up a little amount of col and experience points.

"Hey wait!" Zaymosepher heard a femal voice behind him as he was nearing the entrance to the town. He turned to see a women clad in medium armor with a spear strapped to her back. "W-wait up!" She huffed as she reached to where he was. Her medium brown hair reached to her shoulders and fell in front of her face when she bent over to catch her breath.

"Is something wrong?" Zaymosepher asked and crossed his arms. He hadn't spoken with anyone since he began this game and it felt strange to be talking with another person and not himself.

"Are you going out of the town? I-" She fidgeted for a moment before sighing and breathing in as if deciding something. "I want to move on from here. I can't stand just sitting here at the inn and rotting away like most of the people here. I need to do something and try and make a difference. If you're going out of town please take me with you!" She hastily sent a party request. The window to accept or decline a party came up in front of him, he hovered over the accept button and sighed. This person was feeling the same as him, could he fault her for that? He knew this no longer was a game but could he risk bringing another person with him? No, he already had his answer. Everyone was in danger just by being in this world. Zaymosepher pressed the accept button and saw a name appear just below his name in the upper left corner of his vision.

"Aurora?" He asked when he looked at her.

"Y-yes, how did you-?" She then squinted and looked as though she was concentrating on something andsmiled. "Your zaymosepher then?" She extended a hand. He took it and nodded.

"Nice to meet you, do you have everything you need? I was going to try and do a few quests. Oh I think there is a share button, one second." Zaymosepher looked over his quest menu and pressed the share button on the boar hunting quest. "I wasn't planning on leaving the town yet. I need to work on my skills and try and level up. I wanted to at least be level four."

"I think that's a good idea, I'm only level one." She admitted before looking back towards the gate. A group of people where just returning from doing some hunting of their own. They where all clad in beginner armor and held beginner weapons. They must have been doing the same thing that Zaymosepher was about to do.

"Did you choose the spear and armor when you did the equipment quest?" Zaymosepher asked as he led the way out of town. No one started out with a good amount of money and if she was only level one then there was no other way for her to get the medium armor that she had on.

"Yes, I thought that they might help me a little. I haven't played many games before so I don't have much experience. But I thought a spear would help keep monsters away from me since there isn't any magic or ranged weapons in this game." She explained as she followed close behind him.

"I'm guessing you've looked at the skills?" Zaymosepher asked as they passed into a large spawning zone for boars. The monsters in this part of the plains where less spread out and closer together, making it easier for them to gang up on you.

"I've browsed them, but I only used some points to get a skill for spears." She went through her menu and scrolled through the many skills available to her. "What would you suggest?"

"I think it all depends on how you want to fight or what you want to do. There aer many ways to make a difference in this game. You could repair equipment, fight on the front lines, use support skills, craft equipment or items." Zaymosepher listed off a few things as he drew his sword. This time he wouldn't get surrounded, he would have to play it smart.

"Right, should probably do this later." Aurora swiped away the menu and grapped onto her spear. "I can do this. I'm okay." She closed her eyes a moment then opened them again, glaring at the monsters with hatred. "I'll kill you all for trapping me in here!" Zaymosepher looked at her with a quizzical expression. Who was this women? What had he gotten hismelf into? She seemed like a whole different person as they began to kill boar after boar.

The day had gone on and they had killed much more than the quest had requested. The sun began to set over the plains as Zyamosepher's body was encased in light. He had leveled finally! He sheathed his weapon and looked around them, no more boars where spawning. Had they cleared out this area? If so then he wondered how long until the plains around the Town of Beginnings was picked clean.

"So it's true. Monster do eventually stop spawning." Aurora looked around as she reattached the spear to a clip on her back. "Congratualtions on leveling up!" She exlaimed with a smile.

"You as well, it looks like today was good for both of us. Once we turn in this quest we'll have even more cor than before." Zaymosepher looked over his inventory and noticed a few new pieces of equipment that had dropped from the boars. One was a basic ring that boosted his attack power slightly, that one he equipped right away. Another piece of gear he had gotten was a dagger. It was much weaker than the ones you could buy from the shops, either something a blacksmith could improve for experience or just for selling. There was plenty of room in his inventory so Zaymosepher decided to keep it, he hadn't figured out weather or not he wanted to take up the smithing skill.

"So, what do we do now?" Aurora looked through her own inventory and skill menu. "No new skill points. So you get some every few levels or something?" She put her skill points into medium armor to improve the points it gave her.

"I think that's how it works. I don't really know much other than what I read in the manual." He began to lead the way back to town, the sun setting faster as the minutes dragged on.

"I didn't really read the manual or anything. Just kind of plugged it in and put on the helmet thing. I only played one other role playing game on my computer." She rubbed her arm and followed behind. "Um, so what now?"

"We'll head back to town. I'm kind of tired, haven't done any fighting really since the first day." Zaymosepher rubbed the back his neck in embarrasment. "Should probably get some food first though huh? You hungry?"

"I'm starving! I haven't really tried eating much, mainly once a day since coming here. Know anything good?" Aurora stomach growled loudly when he mentioned food.

"Been just eating the inn's food then? I think there's a resteraunt just down the road from the inn, let's try that." Zaymospeher was glad to be able to talk with someone else. Being alone this whole time has done little for his sanity. He wondered though what the future would hold. Could they really make a difference? Could any of them really return home?

((Author's note: I realized I had been using the wrong name for the currency in Sword Art Online. I will edit the other chapters accordingly ))


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

naozumi kawashima

"Over a month and no one is used to it yet. I don't think anyone ever will be used to it."Graywall remarked as he overheard a conversation in the market square. People where finally starting to crawl out of the inns and homes in the Town of Beginnings. Someone had talked about how others where adjusting to the life in this world. Grawall believed that no one would really adjust, especially not so soon.

Instead of actually going to talk to the group of people the warrior decided it would be best just to keep his distance. He believed it would be best not to get attatched to anyone, especially right now. He didn't need to worry about someone else on top of his own life. He finished the meal he had brought out to a picnic table and stood. His armor rattled loudly as he did, he had yet to take it off since acquiring it. Most people tried to equip themselves with comfortable clothing while they where in town but Graywall was constantly in the fields and forest area. He needed to level so he could make it to the next town in the mountains.

"Kind of hard to level when weapon and armor skills can get to one-thousand." The overall level in the game affected your stats like health, strength, speed, ect. While the weapon and item skills affected your overall stats and skills you could learn. By leveling up shield past ten, he had gained a plus ten bonus to his health points. Small things like that could make a difference between life and death. Though Graywall was primarily focused on combat now, he wanted to branch out to other skills eventually to get similar boosts.

"Maybe smithing." He thought outloud to himself as he observed an NPC (non-player-character) blacksmith working. In the small amount of information available to him other than learning the skill, he noticed that blacksmithing boosted a person's defence and health with it's skill bonuses. He headed down the roadway that was filled with stalls on both ends. He had gone through them many times and just the other night he had sat around the blacksmith's shop, waiting for it to open. His new shield now strapped upon his back as he made his way to the gate of town. This time he would get past the forest and to the mountain pass that lead to Harunka village.

He had a general plan of what he wanted to do but he had a feeling that something would happen. He always tried to plan things out but in the end something ALWAYS happened. He laughed light to himself when he entered the forest area.

"So the fields are almost picked clean." He hadn't run into a single boar on his way to the vast forest that surrounded the clearing that the Town of Beginnings was in. This was the first floor of the one-hundered floor citadel that was Aincrad. No one had reported even finding the dungeon that lead up to the second floor. "First someone would have to find the dungeon, then explore it to find the boss room. Only after we defeat the first boss can we get to the second floor." Graywall smiled as he drew his weapons, keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings. He had overheard some people a couple days ago saying how creatures can disguise themselves or put up cloaking. There was a detection skill but Graywall would put points into it some other time, he needed to focus on defence and health so he could live against tough enemies.

"So far so-" He could hear a scream just a little ways behin him as he tried to speak aloud. Graywall groaned and turned around, this ha happened just the other night too. Luckily though by helping that women he had been able to kill enough Nepents to clear the quest he had picked up. He ran just behind to find the same women from before. This time she had been with someone, but they had been unlucky enough to fight a Nepent with a fruit on it's head.

Back in the Town of Beginnings, Graywall had picked up a guide that had been written out by beta testers. It compiled decent enough information about the game before it had been released. While a lot of information seemed obsolete, so far the information on the monsters had stayed the same. The fruit baring plant monsters made the fruit seem like it's weak point, but instead it emits a gas that attracts more nepents. Now in this group of trees there where seven Nepents that twisted around and attacked the pair. The man wielded a mace and shield while she brandished a dagger in front of her. Both had dark brown hair and where equiped with basic beginner gear. Graywall moved fast to get beside the other man with the shield.

"Fall behind me and heal yourself!" Grawall ordered and deflected three vined arms. He gripped the sword in his right hand tightly and brought it up to slash at a nearby Nepent. He managed to do a number on it's health before another one dove in front of it.

"Switch with me!" The other man with the shield had recovered and was moving behind Graywall. Jumping back, the heavy armored man noticed that the Nepent's froze for a few seconds before drawing their attention on the mace wielder. He had read in the guide that switching with another character would cause a few second delay for the monsters to readjust their target.

"Try and stay behind us, if their vines get around us slash them." Graywall tried to give direction to the girl behind them who had begun to shake. If she had been so scared then why was she outside of town? Then again, people could say the same about him. Especially since he went off and tried to go out on his own.

"R-right!" She said and ran behind the mace wielder. Grawywall went up beside him and brought his sword up. It shone a bright blue color as he brought it through the nearest Nepent, dropping the rest of it's health to zero."T-that's one!" The women exclaimed then shrieked as a vine attacked her from behind.

"Pay attention dammit!" The mace wielding man yelled and swung down on the vine. Graywall moved to the women's side and shielded her as she recovered.

"Out of the forest! Go!" Graywall yelled as two more Nepents dropped from the treetops. The group turned and ran back towards the treeline. Graywall could hear the creatures chasing after them, their vine arms grabbing onto the trees around them to propell them forward. "Keep going!" He tried to pick up his pace though his armor wouldn't let him run much faster than he already was. It took all he could to dive out of the forest and into the plains area.

"No!" Graywall could hear a scream behin him as a vine wrapped around the mace wielder's waist. Another vine reached around and grabbed the women's arm, dragging her back into the forest. Both of the screamed before a familiar shattering sound could be heard. Any time a monster was destroyed, a sound like glass shattering could be heard. The same went for any item or person in the world when it's healt or durability reached zero. To graywall, this sound signified that the person or thing no longer existed in this world and for a person, it meant that they no longer existed at all.

((Author's note: Credit to the character Graywall goes to necron-lordwesly!))


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Kai Jin Sato

A ping sounded throughout the empty room. Krystal groaned in his sleep and turned over, burying himself under the covers. The ping resounded again, this time followed by two more.

"G-give me a minute." Krystal grunted and tried to sit himself up. Though it was only a game he found that his limbs could still fall asleep as though there was blood pumping through his veins. A few more pings made his eyes open and bring up his menu with a lazy swipe of his hand. He checked his messages and noticed many from both Cole and Kiara yelling for him to wake up. Due to the system in the taverns, your able to lock your own room and no one is able to hear from the inside. Krystal had locked his room and so no one had been able to wake him.

"I'm awake. Meet you in the dining area in a few minutes." Krystal replied to both messages and stretched. "Another day. Guess I really can't say this is a dream." He laughed to himself and looked out the window. He could see the village of Harunka in the light of the rising sun. The town was home to an inn, a few shops and four homes to NPC's that could be rented out to players.

Krystal donned some comfortable clothes that he had just bought in town and made his way down the steps. He saw Cole and Lyrias sitting at a table in the corner of the inn. The older brother held a cup of steaming liquid while the younger one had settled for water.

"Where's Kiara?" Kyrstal asked as he approached the group.

"She went out to get something. Said we would need it to do that mountain boar quest we picked up." Cole replied and sorted through his inventory. He was wearing similar clothes to Kyrstal, black short sleeve shirt with gray slacks.

"Probably more potions." Lyrias mumbled and took a sip of his drink. He had on his beginner armor already with the cloak, hood over his head.

"As soon as she gets back we can eat." Krystal said with a smile and took a seat.

"Already ate." Lyrias stated with a half smirk.

"We got tired of waiting for you to get up." Cole patted his stomach and laughed.

"Then i'll just eat what I have instead of ordering." Krystal groaned and opened his inventory to take out a packed lunch item. Kiara had taken up the cooking skill and had made it for them before the group left the town of beginnings. Krystal hadn't eaten his as he had been too busy trying to figure out the safest route for the group.

A ping resounded as he began to eat through the packed sandwich and salad. Though her cooking skill wasn't too high she was still able to make delicious sandwiches. He waited until after eating to check the message, opening his menu just as he stuffed the last piece into his mouth.

"She says she'll meet us near the north exit to the village." Krystal reported and looked at the other two. Yesterday had been the first time he had heard Lyrias speak, he was happy that the normally quiet child was opening up a little. While Cole was overprotective of his little brother, he still seemed friendly and open.

"Alright, guess it's time to gear up." Cole stood and began to equip his gear. Krystal did the same with his basic light armor and long sword. The durability on his equipment was getting low but it woul dbe enough to get him through this quest. With the cor he made off of it he could either upgrade or just use a bit to repair what he had. He wasn't too worried about his gear at the moment, mainly just the other three.

"I do have that though." He mumbled to himself and finished off with his weapon. He had a spare longsword that he could use if his current one broke.

The group made it's way out of the inn and towards the north end of Harunka village when they noticed a large group coming from the direction of the town of beginnings. They where being lead by a man with semi long blue hair. The longest part of his hair seemed to be his bangs and the group following him looked like a lof of beginners. Krystal could see that the man with blue hair had been upgrading his gear quickly, he already had a full set of heavier armor and carried an enchanted shield only obtainable in a rare quest.

"A beta tester?" Krystal wondered out loud as the group began to celebrate getting to Harunka village. Krystal lead the way to the gate and looked around. He could see Kiara's bright purple hair in the distance.

"Hey! Took you guys long enough!" She smiled and ran up to the group. Right away she sent a trade request to each of them, her offer contained ten potions each.

"Knew it." Larias smiled again and accepted.

"You spent what you had left didn't you?" Krystal tried his best to look stern.

"No~" She put her hands behind her back and moved back and forth, an innocent look on her face. Krystal sighed and put cor in his end of the offer box and accepted before she could edit it.

"That should cover some ingredients and the rent for the room for a while." Krystal pouted and peaked behind them.

"Looks like a big group just came into town. I can see them from here." She whistled in emphasis.

"It's a small town after all, i'm surprised you didn't notice when they got here. I think they have a leader or something. Not many people have the cor to form guilds yet, I wonder if he's just helping them all?" Krystal placed a hand under his chin in thought.

"Then he's got his plate full. Thanks for the potions Kiara." Cole bowed his head slightly then stepped towards the northern gate. "Should we get going?"

It took some time for the group to get to the ledge area where the boars spawned the most. It was at the edge of a large mountain, making it treacherous terrain to fight in. Krystal was the first to draw his blade and survey the surrounding monsters. So far it looked as though only six spawned at a time, but the space they where in was generally small.

"If we're not careful we might end up getting pushed off." He worried out loud, not wanting to sound like a downer but make sure the others knew of the danger. "We could look around for another area they spawn in?" He suggested.

"The quest requires us to kill them in this area." Cole said in response and drew his sword and shield. "I could attract half of them maybe? It would keep their attention on me while you guys take them out?"

"Offering yourself as bait? I don't think so. I know you might think your the tank* in this group but three of them would either kill you fast or destroy your shield then kill you." Kiara refused to go along with the plan although Krystal didn't see any other alternative. If they where careful he believed that they could pull it off.

"If we stick close to each other and cover his back, we could pull it off. We would just need to get three of them separated though. It's a risk that we might attract all of them but..." Krystal didn't see any other alternative. This quest gave decent experience points and cor that all three of them desperately needed to level. Also, if they didn't get this quest while they could, another group could take it and no one would be able to do it anymore. He felt bad for taking this quest but they needed it.

"If things look bad just run." Kiara said with a serious face and readied her spear. Lyrias crouched low with his dagger, he had placed some points in acrobatics like Krystal did so he could jump the same way, making him more valuable in fights.

Cole took in the timing of the boars roaming the area and readied his hate generating skill. His sword glowed bright purple and hummed when he brought it up and smacked his shield. His wave generated just around two of the boars and they turned and charged the armored teen.

"This will still work, as long as it's not the whole group." Krystal said in reassurance and brought his sword up to deliver a skill to the side of a boar that slammed into Cole's shield. Kiara used a skill on the other boar while Lyrias continuously slashed as both of them. Cole stood fast and used the ability again when the cooldown* was over. But just as one of the boars died, his shout had reached the other four by mistake.

"Dammit!" Cole shouted and planted his feet, standing fast against two boars slamming into his shield at the same time. The impat sent him back slightly and his shield rose, leaving him open as another boar broke through his guard. He fell back onto the ground and looked up in terror as the fourth boar was in front of him.

"Look out!" Kiara finished off the boar she had been attacking and ran towards the teen on the ground. Lyrias also went to his brothercs aid, throwing himself in front of the boar before it could land another blow on his brother. He was sent backwards and into Cole as he had tried to get up. THe two brothers fell to the ground, dangerously close to the ledge.

"No!" Krystal yelled and ran forward as fast as he could. He lept into the air and landed in front of the two. He brought his sword up and delivered two different sword skills to the boar to his left, killing it. The others charged forward, knocking themselves into Krystal's sword when he brought it up to defend himself. His arm was sent upwards in a knock back and he had to stumble around to recover. This had given the others time to get themselves together and back into a safer position.

"Krystal over there!" While the boars had been distracted, the others had gathered on the other side of them. Kiara now aimed a spear skill at the one nearest to her, Cole also readied a skill. Lyrias jumped over one and landed by Krystal's side.

"Together." He said with a nod and slashed away at a boar that turned it's attention on him. Krystal helped to kill the boar next to Lyrias then they both moved to the next. After a few heart pounding minutes, the fight was over and the party was falling back to the mountain pass before anything else spawned around them.

"Those boars where all that there was for the quest. What probably made it such a hard quest was the terrain. I don't think anyone else could have really taken them on." Krystal sighed and sheathed his weapon now that they where in sight of the village. He looked over his equipment and noticed his sword had but one durability point left. "That was close." He muttered to himself and switched it out with the spare.

"Nice work everyone!" Kiara smiled and clasped Krystal on the back. "Had a close call there, you really don't care about yourself do you?" Krystal's face turned from her smile to a concerned look. "I know you don't want any of us to get hurt but you need to think about yourself for once. If we hadn't recovered fast those boars would have killed you."

"I'll be more careful." Krystal said and looked towards the village. Now they would just need to turn in this quest and reap the rewards. Though they needed it, Krystal still felt guilt for taking the quest away from others. They needed it as well didn't they? Shaking his head, the brown haired man clenched his fists. He would become strong enough for them. He would fight to end this death game and go back home.

((Author's note: Credit to the character Krystal goes to Zack1187!))

*Tank- in most role playing games a tank is referred to the heavily armored warrior that draws the attention of the enemy away from other party members.

*cooldown-in role playing games it sometimes takes time until you can use the same skill again. This is reffered to as a cooldown.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Shin kogeta

"Just leave this to me!" A large man clad in basic heavy armor swung his axe down on the boar then brought it sideways and used a skill. his dark hair and face was covered by a metal helmet that had dropped from a chest in one of the nearby caves. While he was not relatively tall the man was well toned and his strength showed. While others mostly put points into other attributes, this man put most of it in strength as it was the one aspect he had.

His name was Nietzsche and he now travelled with a group that wanted to end this game. It had been brought together by a person named Diabel. Diabel was a young man with medium-length blue hair and wore basic heavy armor similar to Nietzshe. The people in the group called him by a nickname he gave himself, Nietz.

"Hey Nietz! We have more over here!" A spear wielding man called out as he and his partner where getting pushed near the end of the mountain pass. Nietzsche fumbled over his axe a moment before finishing off the boar in front of him. He rushed his way over to the struggling group and bashed one boar straight off the cliff and turned his attention to the other one.

"Diabel! Lars' group is in trouble! Plant monsters appeared out of one of the caves!" A women ran up to the blue haired man who was defending against a larger boar and directing his party around it.

"Nietz! Take those two and go help them! Those things shouldn't be here in the mountains." DIabel shouted to the three who had just freed themselves from enemies. He had muttered the last part to himself and turned his attention to the field boss in front of him. Another party had taken the quest he had planned on having the whole group sharing with one another. But he had remembered something about a field boss in the mountains so he figured that they could take it instead and earn the same amount of cor and experience points. But there had also been a cave nearby that he didn't remember from before and had sent a group to investigate it while he and the others took on the field boss.

"On our way!" Nietzsche shouted and motioned for the spear-wielder and his mace-wielding partner to follow. They made their way up the mountain pass where another group had been sent to investigate a cave that DIabel had been curious about. A few boars spawned in front of them, impeding their path. "Go. I got these two." Nietz gestured to himself and turned to the two boars. Though he didn't have a shield he had been able to put points into a skill that grabbed the enemies attention. He swung his axe up and brought it around in a circle. It glowed bright purple and a sound wave emitted from it when he slammed the weapon on the ground. The two boars' eyes shone a brighter red for a moment before they turned their attention on the armored man.

"Now!" The spear-wielder shouted and both he and his companion sprinted past the boars and towards the entrance to the cave. Nietz blocked the first boars charge but was sent back by the second as he had watched the other to run by to make sure they got there safely. He fell backwards and rolled around to get back to his feet. He was lucky enough to be able to guard another charge as he stood.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Nietzche muttered to himself and swung his axe, hitting both and dealing moderate damage. "Almost there." He looked at his own health and felt thankful that Diabel had helped him get this armor. He wasn't taking much damage due to his defense and health enhancing abilities. Moving away from the boars, Nietz concentrated on trying to take one out at a time. He readied a skill then brought it down on the boars head just as it came into range. He was hit again just as the boar shattered into data fragments. "Dammit!" He groaned and brought out a healing potion. It took him a few seconds to heal completely, during that time he had to dodge and block as best he could. Those seconds seeming like ages as the fight dragged on.

Nietzsche's health reached maximum and he grinned behind the face of his helmet. Bringing the axe to rest on his shoulder he put an arm out in front of him in a mock pose. The axe shined a bright blue color and hummed with life.

"Now!" He shouted and brought the axe down in a sideways slash. As he turned to make another slash he grabbed it with his other hand, empowering the blow as his body moved on instinct from the skill. After the second slash the skill ended, the boar along with it. "Phew!" Nietz sighed and fell backwards. He landed on the ground and lay staring at the sky. "What I wouldn't give to be back home." He wondered aloud to himself. He had meant to help people cope after fighting for their lives, he had never intended to do it himself. "Find a hobby they said. It will be fun they said." He laughed and moved to stand up. "Better get moving before they re-spawn." NIetz had never knew much about games but he had learned enough from the others the basic terms that people used as well as some hints on what to put his skill points into. Nietzsche made his way over to the cavern where the group that Diabel had sent where just coming out.

"Everything alright?" Nietz asked and sheathed his weapon.

"Yeah. We arrived just in time to help them finish off some Nepents that had spawned inside." The spear-wielder that Nietz had go on ahead answered.

"Some?! There had been over ten! I thought where where goners for sure." A sword and shield user exclaimed, looking rather tired. "We did manage to get decent experience and found a chest at the end of the cave though."

"Everyone make it out okay? Doesn't look like anyone is missing." There had been a party of three that had gone in. Then with the other two that made five.

"All accounted for." The mace-wielder from before smiled.

"We should head back. Diabel might need some help still." A young girl said and began to run back down the path. Nietz and the others followed after her.

A few hours passed and the group returned to Harunka village in triumph. There had been three parties of people and one solo person. Nietzsche had offered to be the solo person in order to go from group to group and help efficiently. There had been the cave exploration group, diabel's group, then the group with just two people. Diabel had devised the groups that way so that each one could work efficiently. Nietz had been amazed by how well this man was leading everyone. But he also wondered why? Was there something in it for him? Or was he really wanting to help people?

The armored man sighed happily when he finally arrived at the inn and sat down. Everyone was in high spirits after defeating the field boss. They all ordered the best food they could get in the village and some ordered drinks. While it was a game, there was still a sense of drunkenness affect that some drinks gave you but they where really expensive on the first floor. One of the beta testers in the group said that their where even better ones higher up.

"To diabel!" Nietz stood and raised his cup. He had preferred to only drink water that night, just wanting to relax and not feel the affects of alcohol. The others in the inn raised their drinks in response and laughed at the armored man making a toast with water. He laughed along with them and continued to celebrate with the others until everyone retired to their rooms and rented NPC homes. Nietz lay upon his bed and stared at the ceiling. "I still can't figure this out. Over a month living here and I wonder why someone would do this." He spoke out loud to himself, hearing a voice helped to comfort him slightly. "I'll help stop this though. I have to." He swore to himself and wrapped up in the covers if the soft bed.

((Author's note: Credit to the character Nietzsche goes to Gsusloves!))


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Kitake Haru

Zaymosepher moved around and tested out the new heavy armor that he had acquired through a quest. He had shared a gathering quest with Aurora and they both had braved the forest to gather the flower they had needed. In the quest reward you could pick a set of either heavy, light, or medium armor. Zaymosepher had picked the heavier armor in order to gain skill experience in the area he wanted to excel in. He was still far from unlocking the two-handed ability however as it was hard to gain experience in weapon skills. His one-handed sword skill was only twenty and he needed it to be at two-hundred!

"The max level for all skills is one-thousand. After that it registers that you have mastered the skill and you get an exclusive item for it." Zaymospeher explained to Aurora as he stretched out to accommodate the extra weight. The armor had a black tunic underneath with a metal chest piece and shoulder plates. While it wasn't the heaviest armor in this game, it still was different from the starter gear he had been wearing.

"So there's a limitless amount of things to do in this world." She said in wonder and looked through her skills list again. "But there are a lot of skills that I haven't discovered yet. They have question marks on them." She adjusted herself in the chair she was sitting in, they where both at the inn just recently waking up after a long night in the forest.

"It's said that there is an infinite number of skills in this game. Weather or not that's true though I don't know." Zaymosepher felt satisfied with the armor and equipped his sword. "Are you ready to head out?"

"Now?! I just woke up, let me eat first!" Aurora looked appalled and waved over the NPC waitress.

"We agreed that we would head to Harunka today. It might take us all day to get there, i'm not sure." Zaymosepher watched as the NPC quickly brought the eggs and coffee she had ordered. He sighed and sat down, ordering the same.

"Might as well take your armor and stuff off. I'm not rushing anywhere without eating and relaxing a little. I hated that damned forest." Aurora shivered just from talking about the forest they had to go through last night. "Those plant things made my skin crawl."

"I think they where Nepents or something. Couldn't get a good look at them to read the name." Zaymosepher replaced his armor and sword with comfortable clothing and dug into the food when it was placed in front of him.

"I don't care what their called! Their disgusting and that's that." She huffed and sipped on her coffee. Zaymosepher laughed and sat back in his chair.

"So have you thought about what you want to do yet? I've gathered that you don't like fighting, is there any other skill you would want to take up?" He held his mug in his hand and took a few sips.

"There are a few skill trainers here that could teach me the basics in smithing or tailoring but I don't know yet. I guess i'll just have to see what other skills are out there." She finished her meal and leaned back like he was.

"Alright! We ate, now are you ready?" Zaymosepher was eager to get moving. They where both level three, a decent enough level to get through the forest.

"Fine, fine. Let's get going." She sighed and rose to her feet. After getting on her new medium leather armor she equipped her spear and made a pose. "How does it look?"

"Looks good." Zaymosepher said absently and put on his own equipment again.

"You didn't even look!" She pouted and stomped her foot.

"I did too! Jeez." Zaymosepher laughed and shook his head. He had just recently met this women and they acted like they where siblings or something. He looked at her and smiled. The leather armor hugged her body nicely, the chest piece looked as though it did well for defense and the leather set included shoulder pieces that had a small chain connecting them in the back. The gloves where finger less and slightly bulky around the back of her hand while the boots and leg pieces meshed together nicely as though she was wearing thick leggings.

"Okay okay, I think that's enough looking." Aurora's face flushed when she noticed him actually looking at her. He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Right, let's go then." She sighed and shook off her nerves. They both made their way to the edge of town where they where greeted by a party of people leaving at the same time.

"You guys headed to Harunka?" A large man with dark skin stopped Zaymosepher and Aurora.

"Yeah. Why?" Zaymosepher asked and stopped by the gate.

"We're heading there as well. Heard a group left here recently that was going to try and get to the first floor dungeon. We're hoping to join up with them." He motioned to the three others behind him. Zaymosepher looked at Aurora and shrugged. Aurora shook her head and sighed.

"Thanks but we'll make it there on our own. Maybe we'll meet up at the dungeon sometime?" She said and gave Zaymosepher a look that he was unfamiliar with.

"We'll catch up with you guys." Zaymosepher nodded in agreement and smiled.

"My name is Agil. If you two make it to Tolbana Town try and find us. We'll all get through this together." The man smiled and lead his party out the gate.

"I can't handle big groups. People make me nervous." Aurora admitted when they began their own journey past the gates.

"Wait, so i'm not people?" Zaymosepher asked with a slight tilt to his head.

"It's different for you I guess. I'm not sure how to explain it. I just feel...comfortable?" She couldn't quiet put her finger on it but something about the young man just made her feel at ease.

"Whatever works I guess." He put his hands behind his head as he walked and looked up at the sky. "The plains have been picked clean, there isn't any boars left or any quests for them."

"Makes me wonder if we'll get their too late to even level in the mountains. If that's the case then we won't be prepared to make it to the town near the dungeon." Aurora spoke out loud what Zaymosepher had been fearing.

"I'm sure we'll make it work." He said reassuringly with a smile. They both made their way down the path and into the woods. The woods held little problem for them as there where few plant-like monsters spawning anymore. After making it out the other end of the forest the pair came across a winding path that lead up into the mountains. The sun was high above them, signaling there was plenty of time left in the day.

"We should rest here a moment before going on. I'm starved." Zaymosepher said and sat down on a large rock.

"Didn't get enough before we left? Told you it was a good idea to eat. Otherwise you would have been MUCH hungrier now." She laughed and sat beside him. They both brought out the bread and water they had packed away. "Think we'll find better food?" She asked while munching.

"I hope so, getting kind of tired of the same things. The restaurant in town doesn't have much of a selection either." Zaymosepher looked at his bread with disgust and just wolfed the rest down.

"Maybe one of us could take up cooking?"Zaymosepher perked up after she mentioned the cooking skill.

"I might take it up once we get past the first floor boss. I kind of want to focus on combat for a while." Zaymosepher had been a decent cook back in the real world. He had cooked for his younger sisters most of the time as their parents both had jobs they needed to attend to. He was just about to find his own place however so he could attend college when he bought Sword Art Online. "We still have a lot of fighting ahead of us." He looked over at the mountain pass with a glint in his eye. Everyday his resolved strengthened, he would do everything he could to beat the first floor boss and show that this game can be beat. That their not trapped in here forever or hopelessly stranded. They could save themselves and beat this game!

((Author's note: I know things are moving rather slowly and I will work on speeding things up in the next few chapters. There is ALOT to cover and i'm hardly scratching the surface. I'll do my best to keep things interesting and lay down the ground work as floor 1 is just the beginning!))


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

naozumi kawashima

The blade cut into the nearby plant-like creatures. It left bright red markings on the pale green skin of the large Nepent. There where many around the young warrior and he did what he could to fight them off. One after another they fell to his blade but they just continued coming. The armored man just continued to slash with his sword, his shield right beside him to block any blows. It was when his sword shattered to pieces did he really panic. The things seemed to grin wickedly with their abnormally large mouths. Then he heard a small sound that came from the Nepent's. It was a small high pitched sound that continued but then he saw their bodied moving up and down. They where laughing at him?! How where they able to do that?! He tried to move away but five Nepents blocked his path. Before he could try to bring up his menu and equip another sword the things wrapped their vines around his arms and legs. They laughed again as they continually beat on his armor until that too disappeared. He couldn't' get out a scream or even a word when a Nepent pierced through his body. But instead of data fragments or his health bar going down. The young man looked down and saw blood forming around the plant vine sticking out of his chest.

"No!" Sweat formed around Graywall's face and body as he sat up in his bed. He moved a hand through his short hair and groaned loudly. He had been haunted by the same nightmare night after night since the incident in the forest. He couldn't get those two people out of his head, could he have done something different? Would they still be alive if he had stayed behind to hold them off? But then he would be dead! He knew that he couldn't do anything to get out of here if he was dead but he couldn't help but think that maybe one of those two could have eventually won this game.

"I needed to get up anyway." He whispered to himself and threw the blanket off to stand up. He made his way over to the window and looked out over the fountain square of Tolbana town. It had taken him a long while to get to this town and even longer to work up the nerve to head into the dungeon. Graywall smiled to himself and looked up at the sky. "I worked hard to get here."

A ping broke him away from his thoughts as he opened his menu to search through his messages.

We're leaving in five minutes. If you're not at the dungeon entrance when we get their we're going in without you.

The message was from the leader of a party that he had reluctantly joined in order to explore the dungeon. It was lead by a hot-headed man named Kibaou. Reluctantly Graywall replied to the message saying that he would be there. He sighed heavily and looked over his inventory and stats. He had reached level seven, higher than most in the group now trying to navigate the first floor dungeon. He had done nothing but slay monsters and take on trivial repeatable quests in order to level himself. He had hardly spent any of his cor on new equipment as the quests he had been doing allowed him to fight monsters that dropped some heavier equipment that he needed.

After grabbing something from the menu in the dining area of the inn, Graywall made his way outside and through the center of town. It didn't take him long to equip his gear and start his short trek to the forested area just outside of the pillar that made up the dungeon. He reached the entrance within a short amount of time where the red-haired man stood with two others.

"It took you long enough!" He growled before eyeing graywall angrily. "At least you have better looking stuff than last time."

"I got lucky when fighting some of the lesser kobolds in the first area of the dungeon." He replied and waved to the other two. They hardly took notice to him and turned to go into the dungeon.

"You went in without us eh? Know something we don't?" Kibaou brought himself right in Graywall's face. It was known that the stocky red-head hated beta testers and assumed almost everyone of being one.

"Diabel asked me to go with a man named Nietz and his group. If you don't believe me then ask Diabel himself." Graywall was tired of the accusations, first due to him being a higher level that Kibaou, then to the gear he had before and now. This was another reason that Graywall hated being around people. Sure there were some that may be nice but so far he had only seen people who were either too full of themselves or took their aggression out on other people.

"Tch. Whatever." He turned and lead the way into the dungeon, the other two close behind him. How anyone ever followed a guy like that Graywall couldn't figure it out. He went in after them and soon found himself within the large temple-like dungeon. He drew his blade and kept an eye on their backs as well as the walls around them. The two that accompanied them where spear wielders while Kibaou hefted a rather large one-handed sword. It made Graywall wonder if he wanted to eventually use a two-handed sword? Either way Graywall felt like maybe he was compensating for something.

"Here comes a group!" One of the spearman shouted and readied himself. They where still stuck in a corridor so there wasn't much room to maneuver. Graywall made his way past the group and in the front. He used a skill to boost his defense and raised his shield. There where three creatures advancing on them. They ran on two bent legs and wielded large hammers. He knew that their high level forms would have armor but these ones where covered in only a cloth around the waist. Their pinkish skin gleamed in the light from the torches, indicating that they could be sweating. Did monsters feel hunger in this game? Anticipation at killing a player? Either way it helped make their pig-like faces look more menacing. Graywall blocked the first two hammers that landed on his shield but one of them had had managed to get past him. Luckily the others took care of it quickly with a few skills. Graywall used a sword skill of his own to deplete the health bar of one of the creatures and blocked the attack of another.

"I'll finish them off!" Kibaou shoved Graywall aside and swung his sword down to finish off the one that Graywall had attacked. The other creature however landed a heavy blow to his chest and knocked him back. Graywall moved back into position and shielded him. After delivering a few skills it shattered like the others.

"I hate Kobolds!" One of the spear wielders groaned and offered a hand to Kibaou. The red-haired man just knocked the hand aside and turned on Graywall.

"What was that?! You let it hit me!" He growled and stood to put his face in front of Gaywall's once again.

"You pushed me aside and said you had it. I assumed you wanted to switch positions and be the shield." The armored man just shrugged and turned towards the corridor where more noises could be heard. "Sounds like another party is fighting up ahead."

"I don't care about them! We have to get to the third floor of the dungeon. Diabel has something to show us before the announcement tomorrow." He huffed, sheathed his blade and shoved past Graywall.

"Announcement?" The armored man tilted his head slightly.

"Yeah. Diabel has something to announce to the others who are trying to clear this thing. I hope you're ready for whatever it is up ahead." The man sneered and pointed a thumb up the corridor where more Kobolds where spawning. Graywall just groaned and got himself into position.

((Author's note: Credit to the character Graywall goes to necron-lordwesly!))


End file.
